Department of Homeland Security

We determined that that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was caught by surprise when the President issued the Executive Order (EO) on January 27, 2017. DHS had little opportunity to prepare for and respond to basic questions about which categories of travelers were affected by the EO. We...

We determined that FEMA established the Sandy Claims Review Process (SCRP) in response to negative publicity and pressure from Members of Congress following Hurricane Sandy. In doing so, FEMA did not rely upon certain legislatively mandated internal controls designed to ensure appropriate payments...

We determined that DHS’ Suspension and Debarment Instruction is outdated and is missing needed definitions, as well as detailed requirements and procedures for documenting decisions on administrative agreements, which mandate improvements rather than suspending or debarring companies and...

We determined that Volunteer Energy Cooperative (Volunteer) accounted for and expended FEMA funds according to Federal regulations and FEMA guidelines. Volunteer properly accounted for and adequately supported its claim of $8.3 million for disaster-related activities. However, Volunteer’s...

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) faces challenges in implementing the Known or Suspected Terrorist Encounter Protocol (KSTEP) screening process, which is used to identify aliens who may be known or suspected terrorists. Although ERO uses KSTEP to screen all aliens who are in ICE custody...

Este informe asistiremos a los beneficiarios y sub¬-beneficiarios de las subvenciones de asistencia por desastre de la Agencia Federal para el Manejo de Emergencias (FEMA) a: documentar y contabilizar los costos relacionados con el desastre; minimizar la pérdida de los fondos de asistencia por...

We determined that DHS’ internal controls over its Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act processes were not sufficient to support the submission of accurate, complete and timely spending data for FY 2017/Q2. Although DHS met the mandated deadline for submitting its quarterly spending...

The objective of this alert was to emphasize to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) leadership the significant deficiencies with its internal controls and ongoing problems enforcing Federal requirements related to proper grant management and oversight of disaster funds. Given the catastrophic...